Paging for delay tolerant mobile terminals and applications

ABSTRACT

A user equipment (UE) includes a transceiver and a processor. The transceiver is configured to receive, from a network, a paging message including an indication for delayed paging. The indication for delayed paging indicates that the UE is allowed to delay a response to the paging message. The processor is configured to identify the indication for delayed paging in the paging message.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATIONS

This application is a U.S. National Phase Application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Application No. PCT/EP2019/054104, filed on Feb. 19, 2019, and claims benefit to European Patent Application No. EP 18157507.7, filed on Feb. 19, 2018. The International Application was published in English on Aug. 22, 2019, as WO 2019/158778A1 under PCT Article 21(2).

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a communication system. The disclosure has particular but not exclusive relevance to wireless communication systems and devices thereof operating according to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards or equivalents or derivatives thereof. The disclosure has particular although not exclusive relevance to paging in the so-called ‘5G’ (or ‘Next Generation’) systems.

BACKGROUND

3GPP SA2 Working Group has started a study on 5G CIoT in 3GPP Technical Report (TR) 23.724 for Rel-16 with several objectives:

-   -   Enable CIoT/MTC functionalities in 5G CN. The objective is to         study how to support identified CIoT/MTC functionalities in 5G         CN with potential connectivity to Wideband (WB)-EUTRA (eMTC)         and/or NB-IoT for 5GS capable devices.     -   Co-existence and migration from EPC based eMTC/NB-IoT to 5GCN.         The objective is to study solutions for coexistence and         migration from EPC towards 5G CN for eMTC/NB-IoT. It will study         solutions where the same service is offered to some UEs         connected to EPC and some UEs connected to 5G CN e.g. using SCEF         and equivalent functionalities in 5G CN. Solutions that assume         that 5G CN needs to support EPC NAS signalling for legacy IoT         devices access are not considered.     -   5G System enhancements to address 5G service requirements (based         on 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 22.261 V16.2.0 and TR         38.913 V14.3.0). To study system architecture enhancements to         address related service requirements defined in TS 22.261         V16.2.0 and RAN requirements defined in TR 38.913 V14.3.0 and         how to enable them in 5G CN, if needed. At least the following         service requirements have been identified: Enable the change of         association between subscription and address/number of an IoT         device within same operator and in between different operators.

3GPP SA2 has already identified multiple Key Issues in order to fulfil the objectives set in the 5G CIoT Study. One of the main areas identified for improvement in the 5G CIoT study is the further improvements in the UE power saving. For example Key Issue 5 of the TR 23.724 V0.1.0 is about UE Transmission (TX) Power Saving Functions. It is observed that when UE communicates with the network, the TX power consumption of each data transmission is more than ten times of the RX power consumption and the TX power consumption contributes much to the UE whole power consumption. So, optimizing the TX power consumption is an effective way to improve UE power saving. This key issue aims to optimize UE TX power consumption under certain conditions, e.g. in weak coverage, with high latency application, or any other conditions under which UE TX power consumption can be improved.

SUMMARY

In an embodiment, the present disclosure provides a user equipment (UE) including a transceiver and a processor. The transceiver is configured to receive, from a network, a paging message including an indication for delayed paging. The indication for delayed paging indicates that the UE is allowed to delay a response to the paging message. The processor is configured to identify the indication for delayed paging in the paging message.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Aspects of the present disclosure will be described in even greater detail below based on the exemplary figures. The invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments. All features described and/or illustrated herein can be used alone or combined in different combinations in embodiments of the invention. The features and advantages of various embodiments of the present invention will become apparent by reading the following detailed description with reference to the attached drawings which illustrate the following:

FIG. 1 is a schematic signalling (timing) diagram illustrating an exemplary procedure for delayed paging for mobile terminals (UEs);

FIG. 2 is a schematic signalling (timing) diagram illustrating an exemplary procedure for AF subscription for delayed paging response notification;

FIG. 3 is a schematic flow chart illustrating an exemplary procedure at the AMF when receiving a request for delayed paging by the AF via NEF and possible SMF/UPF;

FIG. 4 is a schematic flow chart illustrating an exemplary procedure at the UE when receiving a request for delayed paging;

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates a mobile (cellular or wireless) telecommunication system 1 to which the described embodiments are applicable;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the main components of the UE shown in FIG. 5 ;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating the main components of an exemplary (R)AN node shown in FIG. 5 ; and

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating the main components of a generic core network node shown in FIG. 5 .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It is observed that when UE communicates with a network, the TX power consumption of each data transmission is more than ten times that of the RX power consumption and the TX power consumption contributes much to the UE whole power consumption.

So, one of the open issues of the 5G CIoT Study in TR23.724 V0.1.0 is to identify the conditions under which UE transmission power consumption can be improved, i.e. reduced. Embodiments described herein provide for saving the UE power consumption for data exchange with the network.

According to one aspect, the present disclosure provides a user equipment (UE) comprising: a transceiver configured to receive, from AMF, a paging message including an indication for delayed paging, wherein the indication for delayed paging indicates that the UE may be allowed to delay a response to the paging message; and a processor configured to identify the indication for delayed paging in the paging message.

The processor may be configured to check whether a received radio signal level is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold.

The processor may be configured, when the received radio signal level is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold, the control the UE to respond to the paging request in a normal way.

The processor may be configured, when the received radio signal level is below a predetermined threshold, to control the UE to not respond to the paging request.

The processor may be configured to monitor the received radio signal level.

The processor may be configured, when the received radio signal level becomes greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold, to control the UE to respond to the paging message from AMF.

The processor may be configured, when the received radio signal level stays below a predetermined threshold, to control the UE to not respond to the paging message.

According to one aspect, the disclosure provides an access and mobility management function (AMF) comprising: a processor configured to: generate an indication for delayed paging including an indication for delayed paging into a paging message, wherein the indication for delayed paging indicates that a user equipment (UE) is allowed to delay a response to the paging message; and a transceiver configured to transmit, to the UE, the paging message including the indication for delayed paging.

The processor may be configured to include the delayed paging indicator in the paging message for transmission to the UE when the transceiver receives downlink data with a delayed paging indication from a service provider.

The transceiver may be configured to receive the delayed paging indication with a downlink data request message.

The processor may be configured to include the indication for delayed paging in the paging message for transmission to the UE when the transceiver receives the indication for delayed paging capability from the UE.

The transceiver may be configured to receive the indication for delayed paging capability in a registration request message.

The processor may be configured to include the indication for delayed paging in the paging message for transmission to the UE when a UE subscription information in a Unified Data Management (UDM) reveals the UE or a service is delay tolerant.

The processor may be configured to start a delayed paging timer when the AMF includes the indication for delayed paging in the paging message for transmission to the UE.

When the AMF receives an answer from the UE to a delayed paging request before expiry of the delayed paging timer, the delayed paging may be considered successful.

The transceiver may be configured, when the AMF does not receive an answer for a delayed paging request, from the UE before expiry of the delayed paging timer, to transmit a repeated paging message to the UE and restarts the delay paging timer for predetermined times.

When the AMF receives answer to the repeated paging message before the expiry of the delayed paging timer, the delayed paging may be considered successful.

When the AMF does not receive answer to the repeated paging message before the expiry of the delayed paging timer, the delayed paging may be considered to have failed.

According to one aspect, the disclosure provides a method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving, from AMF, a paging message including an indication for delayed paging, wherein the indication for delayed paging indicates that the UE is allowed to delay a response to the paging message; and identifying the indication for delayed paging in the paging message.

According to one aspect, the disclosure provides a method performed by an access and mobility management function (AMF), the method comprising: generating an indication for delayed paging including an indication for delayed paging into a paging message, wherein the indication for delayed paging indicates that a user equipment (UE) is allowed to delay a response to the paging message; and transmitting, to the UE, the paging message including the indication for delayed paging.

The present disclosure proposes to introduce a delayed paging feature in the core network and in the UE for delay tolerant services and applications (e.g. mobile devices, applications and services that can tolerate a delay). What is a delayed paging feature:

Delayed paging feature in the core network—An AF can subscribe for delayed paging and the AF can request a delayed paging (e.g. the answer from the mobile terminal can be delayed as the service or application associated with that AF is delay tolerant). The AF may provide a parameter for the allowed max number of delayed paging repetitions by the AMF in case the UE does not answer and also a parameter defining a time interval between the delayed paging repetitions. The AMF pages the UE with a delayed paging indication in the paging message. If the UE does not answer to the first paging attempt (paging cycle), the AMF may repeat the paging with delayed paging indication after the expiry of a delayed paging interval—a parameter which defines the time interval between two delayed paging cycles. The AMF may repeat the delayed paging as many times as set by an associated parameter (e.g. max number of delayed paging parameter). If all attempts for delayed paging are unsuccessful, the AMF falls back to normal paging, i.e. the AMF pages the UE without the indication for delayed paging.

Delayed paging in the UE—when a delayed paging capable UE is paged for delayed paging (e.g. with delayed paging indication in the Paging message), the UE first checks the radio coverage conditions. If the radio coverage conditions are not good (e.g. based on implementation or based on the radio signal quality (e.g. the radio signal quality is below a threshold set and configured in the UE by the operator) or based on any other criteria) the UE may decide not to answer to the delayed paging message, i.e. the paging just fails. In this case the network may repeat the delayed paging after some time (e.g. after the expiry of the delayed paging interval if the max number of the delayed paging repetitions are not exhausted).

If the radio coverage conditions are considered to be good (again based on the above listed criteria), the UE answers to the delayed paging.

Examples described herein are particularly beneficial when the applications or services the UE is paged for are delay tolerant (e.g. are not delay sensitive and can wait for the terminal to answer) and the paged UE or mobile device is mobile (e.g. the UE is mobile which suggest a change in the radio coverage conditions or even when the UE is not mobile but there are fluctuations in the signal strength and quality). The delayed paging feature described herein allows the UE to answer to the delayed paging when the radio coverage conditions are good and thus it saves UE power without decreasing the quality of the service.

If none of the delayed paging attempts by the network are successful (i.e. the UE does not answer to any of the attempts for delayed paging as the radio coverage conditions has stayed bad, the AMF falls back to normal paging which the UE now must answer regardless of the radio coverage conditions.

FIG. 1 is a schematic signalling (timing) diagram illustrating an exemplary procedure for delayed paging for mobile terminals (UEs).

-   1) An AF requests the NEF for delayed paging subscription and     authorization by invoking Subscribe for Delayed Paging Request (AF     Id) message (e.g. Nnef EventExposure Subscribe Request message or     any other suitable service request for the purpose of obtaining a     subscription and an authorisation for the use of delayed paging     feature). -   2) The NEF may make an enquiry with the UDM/UDR and/or PCF and or     SMF/UPF and/or AMF before confirming and authorizing the AF for the     subscription and for the use of delayed paging feature. -   3) The NEF answers with Subscribe for Delayed Paging Confirmation     message (e.g. Nnef EventExposure Subscribe Confirmation message or     any other suitable message for the purpose of confirming and     authorizing the AF for the delayed paging feature). -   4) A UE capable of delayed paging feature indicates its capability     for it to the network (e.g. AMF) at registration by including a     delayed paging capability indication (or any other notion of     indication with the purpose to indicate that the UE is capable to     handle paging for delay tolerant services and applications (e.g.     services and applications that are not delay sensitive) e.g.     Registration Request (delayed paging) message or in any other NAS or     AS signaling with an indication for delayed paging capability in the     UE. The UE capability for delayed paging may be indicated from the     UE to the network within the UE network capability information     and/or within the UE radio capability information.     -   The UE delayed capability information may be indicated by the UE         to the network also in other NAS messages like Service Request         and PDU Session Establishment Request messages or TAU Request         and RAU Request in case of 4G and 3G mobile network. In another         example the UE delayed paging capability could be indicated to         the RAN Node (e.g. gNB in 5G or eNB in 4G) within one of the RRC         signaling messages from the UE. Yet in another example the UE         delayed paging capability could be relayed to the AMF/MME from         the RAN Node or vice versa, from the RAN Node (e.g. gNB or eNB)         to the MME within a suitable N2 (or S1) signaling message. -   5) The network (e.g. AMF) accepts the UE registration with the     network. -   6) When the AF wants to exchange non-delay sensitive data (i.e.     delay tolerant data or service) with a UE, the AF invokes Downlink     Data Notification (e.g. DDN (UE Id, delayed_paging_ind,     N_delayed_paging_repetitions and T_delayed_paging_interval) or any     other suitable message or service request for the purpose of     downlink data notification with delayed paging. The     delayed_paging_ind parameter (or any other notion for the same     purpose) is included when the AF request is for delayed paging. The     N_delayed_paging_repetitions parameter (or any other notion for the     same purpose) defines (if included) the maximum number for delayed     paging repetitions (i.e. how many times the delayed paging can be     exercised by the AMF if the UE did not respond). The delayed paging     repetition is different from the normal paging repetition where the     AMF repeats several time the paging in a very short time. The     delayed paging repetitions is defined by a designated time parameter     called for example T_delayed_paging_interval. The     T_delayed_paging_interval (or any other notion for the same purpose)     defines the time interval after which the delayed paging can be     repeated by the AMF. -   7) The NEF verifies that the AF is subscribed and authorized for     ‘delayed paging’ and forwards (e.g. via the UPF and/or SMF nodes     that are involved in the setting of the likely data link) the     downlink data notification towards AMF. -   8) AMF checks if the UE to be paged is capable of delayed paging.     The UE may have the information about the UE delayed paging     capability in the UE context within the AMF or the AMF may enquire     the UDM/UDR for that. The AMF may also check with the PCF (hPCF or     vPCF) for any restrictions on the use of delayed paging feature for     the UE being paged or in general (or UE s in general based on     location and/or time). -   9) If the UE is capable of delayed paging, the AMF invokes Paging     Request to the gNB and includes a delayed paging indication in it     (or any other notion for indication for the purpose of delayed     paging), e.g. Paging Request (UE_Id, delayed_paging_ind or any other     message to the gNB with the purpose of paging the UE with the     delayed paging feature). Then the AMF starts the timer for delayed     paging (if included), e.g. T_delayed_paging_interval. -   10) The gNB pages the UE by including the delayed paging indication     (or any other notion for indication of delayed paging) in the Page     Request message, e.g. paging Request (UE_Id, delayed_paging_ind) or     any other message for the purpose of paging the UE with delayed     paging feature. -   11) When the UE reads the paging message and finds out it is a     delayed paging, the UE checks whether the radio coverage conditions     are good. If not, the UE does not responds to the paging. -   12) At expiry of the delayed paging timer T_delayed_paging_interval     timer in the AMF, if the AMF has not received response from the UE     to the paging and the N_delayed_paging_repetitions counter has not     reset (i.e. is not zero yet), the AMF repeats the delayed paging     again, re-starts the delayed paging timer T-delayed_paging_interval     and decreases with one the max number of delayed paging     repetitions—N_delayed_paging_repetitions counter. -   13) The AMF invokes another Paging Request message to the AMF with     delayed paging indication in it. -   14) The gNB in turn pages the UE with delayed paging indication in     the paging message—Paging Request (UE_Id, delayed_paging_ind). -   15) When the UE reads the paging message and finds out it is a     delayed paging, the UE checks whether the radio coverage conditions     are good. If yes, the UE responds to the paging message. -   16) The UE answers the delayed paging with Paging Response (or any     other message for the purpose of answering to paging like Service     Request or PDU session establishment, etc.). -   17) At receiving the Paging Response/Service Request or PDU session     establishment from the UE the AMF resets the delayed paging timer     and the N delayed paging repetitions counter and invokes DDN     response or Uplink data message to the SMF/UPF or NEF as an answer     to the delayed paging from the AF. -   18) The SMF/UPF notifies the AF with the UE response (PDU session or     Service Request) to delayed paging. -   19) A data exchange (DL and/or UL) takes place.

FIG. 2 is a schematic signalling (timing) diagram illustrating an exemplary procedure for AF subscription for delayed paging response notification.

-   1) The AF invokes an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create Request service     operation to the PCF directly or via the NEF to request a     subscription to notifications about delayed paging response event.     The request contains parameters as AF Id, and delayed paging     indication parameter. -   2) The PCF invokes Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create Response service     operation. -   3) The PCF may store the AF request for usage by future PDU Sessions     related to delayed paging from the same AF. -   4) The PCF may update the SMF with corresponding new PCC rule(s)     related to the delayed paging by invoking     Npcf_SMPolicyControl_UpdateNotify service operation. -   5) When a PCC rule is received from the PCF, the SMF may take     appropriate actions to reconfigure the User plane of the PDU Session     such as Subscribe to notifications from the AMF for an area of     interest like UE response from delayed paging via     Namf_EventExposure_Subscribe service operation. -   6) When the AF wants to exchange non-delay sensitive data (i.e.     delay tolerant data or service) with a UE, the AF invokes Downlink     Data Notification (e.g. DDN (UE Id, delayed_paging_ind,     N_delayed_paging_repetitions and T_delayed_paging_interval) or any     other suitable message or service request for the purpose of     downlink data notification with delayed paging. -   7) The AMF invokes the delayed paging procedure with the UE as     described with reference to FIG. 1 above. -   8) The UE answers the delayed paging with Paging Response (or any     other message for the purpose of answering to paging like Service     Request or PDU session establishment, etc.). -   9) The SMF/UPF notifies the intended AF the Paging Response (e.g.     PDU session or Service Request) related to the UE response to the     delayed paging by invoking Nsmf_EventExposure_Notify service     operation with included delayed paging indication in it.

FIG. 3 is a schematic flow chart illustrating an exemplary procedure at the AMF when receiving a request for delayed paging by the AF via NEF and possible SMF/UPF.

-   1) AMF receives a request for delayed paging—e.g. DDN (UE Id,     delayed paging indication, N_delayed_paging_repetitions,     T_delayed_paging_interval) or any other suitable message for the     purpose of paging the UE with indication in it for use of the     delayed paging feature and parameters to assist the delayed paging     feature in the AMF like time interval between the delayed paging     attempts and the max number for the delayed paging attempts. -   2) AMF checks if the UE to be paged for delayed paging is delayed     paging capable UE. The UE capability information for delayed paging     may be available in the UE context. If not the AMF may enquire the     UDM/UDR. The AMF may also check with the PCF (hPCF or vPCF) for any     restrictions on the use of delayed paging feature for the UE being     paged or in general (or UE s in general based on location and/or     time). -   3) If the UE is delayed paging capable UE, the AMF:     -   Invokes Paging Request message to the UE (via gNBs) with         included indication for delayed paging;     -   If a parameter for maximum delayed paging is available (e.g.         N_delayed_paging_count) and it is not zero, the UE starts a         delayed paging timer (e.g. T_delayed_paging_timer);     -   Decreases the max number of delayed paging parameter (e.g.         N-delayed_paging_count) by 1 if it is not yet zero. -   4-5) The AMF is waiting for the Paging Response while the delayed     paging timer is running. -   6) If the UE does not respond until the delayed paging timer     expires, the AMF checks whether further repeat of delayed paging is     allowed (based on e.g. N-delayed_paging_count).     -   If the delayed paging repetitions counter is not zero yet, the         AMF starts from step 3 by sending another paging request with         delayed paging indication.     -   If the delayed paging repetitions counter is zero, the delayed         paging ends with failure. In this case the AMF has exhausted all         the attempts for delayed paging with no success (e.g. meaning         the UE was not in good radio coverage during the delayed paging         attempts). Then the AMF falls back to normal paging at step 8         and pages the UE for normal paging (i.e. without an indication         for delayed paging) to which the UE now must answer regardless         of the radio coverage conditions. -   7) If at step 5 the UE responds to the delayed paging request before     the expiry of the delayed paging timer, the UE paging finishes     successfully. -   8) If at step 2 the AMF finds out that the paging request does not     include indication for delayed paging (i.e. it is not delayed     paging) the AMF executes normal paging.

FIG. 4 is a schematic flow chart illustrating an exemplary procedure at the UE when receiving a request for delayed paging.

-   1) UE receives a paging with delayed paging indication in the paging     message (or any other notion for indication for delayed paging or     paging for delay tolerant services or applications). -   2) The UE checks if the paging is normal paging or delayed paging. -   3) If the paging is for delayed paging (e.g. with an appropriate     indication for delayed paging present within the Paging message),     the UE checks the radio coverage conditions. -   4) If the radio coverage conditions are not good (e.g. based on     implementation or based on the radio signal quality (e.g. the radio     signal quality is below a threshold set and configured in the UE by     the operator for example via OMA DM or via NA/AS signalling) or     based on any other criteria in the UE) the UE may decide not to     answer to the paging message, i.e. the paging just fails. In this     case the network may repeat the delayed paging after the expiry of     the delayed paging interval if the maximum number of the delayed     paging repetitions are not exhausted yet. -   5) If the radio coverage conditions are good (e.g. based on     implementation or based on the radio signal quality (e.g. the radio     signal quality is greater than or equal a threshold set and     configured in the UE by the operator) or based on any other criteria     in the UE), the UE answers the paging message for delayed paging. -   6) If at step 2 the UE finds out the paging is a normal paging (i.e.     no indication for delayed paging in the Paging message) the UE     answers the paging regardless of the radio coverage conditions.

SUMMARY

Beneficially, the above described exemplary embodiments include, although they are not limited to, one or more of the following functionalities:

-   1) AF subscription for delayed paging; -   2) AF authorisation for delayed paging; -   3) delayed paging capability parameter in the Registration request     message; -   4) New parameters in the downlink data indication message from the     AF to NEF to SMF/UPF to the AMF, the parameters includes at least     one:     -   delayed paging indication parameter—e.g. delayed_paging_ind;     -   delayed paging interval parameter—e.g.         T_delayed_paging_interval;     -   number of delayed paging repetitions parameter—e.g.         N_delayed_paging_repetitions; -   5) delayed paging feature logic in the AMF; -   6) delayed paging indication in the Paging message from AMF to gNB; -   7) delayed paging indication in the Paging message from the gNB to     the UE; -   8) delayed paging feature logic in the UE.

It can be seen that the above embodiments describe various exemplary procedures in which:

-   1) AF (e.g. service provider) registering with the 5G network for     use of delayed paging feature/service. -   2) A mobile terminal (e.g. UE) that is delayed paging capable     indicates its capability for delayed paging at registration (e.g.     includes a delayed paging capability indication in the Registration     Request message). -   3) When AMF receives a request from an AF for delayed paging (with     included indication for delayed paging, max number of delayed paging     repetitions and the time interval between delayed paging     repetition), the AMF applies the logic for delayed paging as     described with reference to FIG. 3 . -   4) When a UE is paged for delayed paging (a paging with indication     for delayed paging), the UE applies the logic for delayed paging as     described with reference to FIG. 4 . -   5) When AMF exhausts all the allowed attempts for delayed paging and     there is still no response from the UE (e.g. the UE has not answered     the paging as the UE considered the radio coverage as not good     enough), the AMF falls back to normal paging where the UE must     respond regardless of the radio coverage conditions.

It can be seen that the above embodiments beneficially provide a number of benefits, including (but not limited to) reducing UE power consumption in low coverage conditions by delaying a response to paging signalling (at least for those services and applications that are delay tolerant) until coverage conditions improve.

System Overview

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates a mobile (cellular or wireless) telecommunication system 1 to which the above embodiments are applicable.

In this network, users of mobile devices 3 (UEs) can communicate with each other and other users via respective base stations 5 and a core network 7 using an appropriate 3GPP radio access technology (RAT), for example, an E-UTRA and/or 5G RAT. It will be appreciated that a number of base stations 5 form a (radio) access network or (R)AN. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, whilst one mobile device 3 and one base station 5 are shown in FIG. 5 for illustration purposes, the system, when implemented, will typically include other base stations and mobile devices (UEs).

Each base station 5 controls one or more associated cells (either directly or via other nodes such as home base stations, relays, remote radio heads, and/or the like). A base station 5 that supports E-UTRA/4G protocols may be referred to as an ‘eNB’ and a base station 5 that supports NextGeneration/5G protocols may be referred to as a ‘gNBs’. It will be appreciated that some base stations 5 may be configured to support both 4G and 5G, and/or any other 3GPP or non-3GPP communication protocols.

The core network 7 typically includes logical nodes (or ‘functions’) for supporting communication in the telecommunication system 1. Typically, for example, the core network 7 of a ‘Next Generation’/5G system will include, amongst other functions, control plane functions and user plane functions.

In this example, the core network 7 includes, amongst others, an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 10, a Session Management Function (SMF)/User Plane Function (UPF) 11, a Network Exposure Function (NEF) 12, an Application Function (AF) 13, and a Policy Control Function (PCF) 14.

The mobile device 3 and its serving base station 5 are connected via an appropriate air interface (for example the so-called ‘Uu’ interface and/or the like). Neighbouring base stations 5 are connected to each other via an appropriate base station to base station interface (such as the so-called ‘X2’ interface, ‘Xn’ interface and/or the like). The base station 5 is also connected to the core network nodes via an appropriate interface (such as the so-called ‘S1’, ‘N1’, ‘N2’, ‘N3’ interface, and/or the like). From the core network 7, connection to an external IP network 20 (such as the Internet) is also provided.

The components of this system are beneficially configured to perform the above described delayed paging functionality (at least for those services and applications that are delay tolerant).

User Equipment (UE)

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the main components of the UE (mobile device 3) shown in FIG. 5 . As shown, the UE includes a transceiver circuit 31 which is operable to transmit signals to and to receive signals from the connected node(s) via one or more antenna 33. Although not necessarily shown in FIG. 6 , the UE will of course have all the usual functionality of a conventional mobile device (such as a user interface 35) and this may be provided by any one or any combination of hardware, software and firmware, as appropriate. A controller 37 controls the operation of the UE in accordance with software stored in a memory 39. The software may be pre-installed in the memory 39 and/or may be downloaded via the telecommunication network 1 or from a removable data storage device (RMD), for example. The software includes, among other things, an operating system 41 and a communications control module 43. The communications control module 43 is responsible for handling (generating/sending/receiving) signalling messages and uplink/downlink data packets between the UE 3 and other nodes, including (R)AN nodes 5 and core network nodes. Such signalling also includes paging messages and communication relating to delayed paging.

(R)AN Node

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating the main components of an exemplary (R)AN node 5 (base station) shown in FIG. 5 . As shown, the (R)AN node 5 includes a transceiver circuit 51 which is operable to transmit signals to and to receive signals from connected UE(s) 3 via one or more antenna 53 and to transmit signals to and to receive signals from other network nodes (either directly or indirectly) via a network interface 55. The network interface 55 typically includes an appropriate base station—base station interface (such as X2/Xn) and an appropriate base station—core network interface (such as S1/N1/N2/N3). A controller 57 controls the operation of the (R)AN node 5 in accordance with software stored in a memory 59. The software may be pre-installed in the memory 59 and/or may be downloaded via the telecommunication network 1 or from a removable data storage device (RMD), for example. The software includes, among other things, an operating system 61 and a communications control module 63. The communications control module 63 is responsible for handling (generating/sending/receiving) signalling between the (R)AN node 5 and other nodes, such as the UE 3 and the core network nodes. Such signalling also includes paging messages and communication relating to delayed paging of delay tolerant UEs/applications.

Core Network Node

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating the main components of a generic core network node shown in FIG. 5 (e.g. AMF 10, SMF/UPF 11, NEF 12, AF 13, and/or PCF 14). As shown, the core network node includes a transceiver circuit 71 which is operable to transmit signals to and to receive signals from other nodes (including the UE 3, the (R)AN node 5, and other core network nodes) via a network interface 75. A controller 77 controls the operation of the core network node in accordance with software stored in a memory 79. The software may be pre-installed in the memory 79 and/or may be downloaded via the telecommunication network 1 or from a removable data storage device (RMD), for example. The software includes, among other things, an operating system 81 and a communications control module 83. The communications control module 83 is responsible for handling (generating/sending/receiving) signaling between the core network node and other nodes, such as the UE 3, (R)AN node 5, and other core network nodes. It will be appreciated that, depending on its configuration, the core network node may have additional modules, for example, a paging module and/or the like.

Modifications and Alternatives

Detailed embodiments have been described above. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, a number of modifications and alternatives can be made to the above embodiments whilst still benefiting from the inventions embodied therein. By way of illustration only a number of these alternatives and modifications will now be described.

The above exemplary embodiments have been described in the context of a 5G network. However, it will be appreciated that the above described delayed paging feature and functionality may also be applicable for 4G and 3G mobile networks and technologies. In this case the involved network nodes are MME in 4G or SGSN in 3G for AMF in 5G, S-GW and P-GW in 3G and 4G for SMF/UPF in 5G, MTC-IWF in 3G and SCEF in 4G for NEF in 5G, HSS in 3G and 4G for UDM/UDR in 5G, AS in 3G and 4G for AF in 5G, RNC in 3G and eNB in 4G for gNB in 5G, Attach Request, RAU Request and TAU Request in 3G and 4G for Registration Request in 5G.

In the above description, the UE, the (R)AN node, and the core network node are described for ease of understanding as having a number of discrete modules (such as the communication control modules). Whilst these modules may be provided in this way for certain applications, for example where an existing system has been modified to implement any aspect of the invention, in other applications, for example in systems designed with the inventive features in mind from the outset, these modules may be built into the overall operating system or code and so these modules may not be discernible as discrete entities. These modules may also be implemented in software, hardware, firmware or a mix of these.

Each controller may comprise any suitable form of processing circuitry including (but not limited to), for example: one or more hardware implemented computer processors; microprocessors; central processing units (CPUs); arithmetic logic units (ALUs); input/output (TO) circuits; internal memories/caches (program and/or data); processing registers; communication buses (e.g. control, data and/or address buses); direct memory access (DMA) functions; hardware or software implemented counters, pointers and/or timers; and/or the like.

In the above embodiments, a number of software modules were described. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the software modules may be provided in compiled or uncompiled form and may be supplied to the UE, the (R)AN node, and the core network node as a signal over a computer network, or on a recording medium. Further, the functionality performed by part or all of this software may be performed using one or more dedicated hardware circuits. However, the use of software modules is preferred as it facilitates the updating of the UE, the (R)AN node, and the core network node in order to update their functionalities.

The above embodiments are also applicable to ‘non-mobile’ or generally stationary user equipment.

Various other modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art and will not be described in further detail here.

While embodiments of the have been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description are to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive. It will be understood that changes and modifications may be made by those of ordinary skill within the scope of the following claims. In particular, the present invention covers further embodiments with any combination of features from different embodiments described above and below. Additionally, statements made herein characterizing the invention refer to an embodiment of the invention and not necessarily all embodiments.

The terms used in the claims should be construed to have the broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the foregoing description. For example, the use of the article “a” or “the” in introducing an element should not be interpreted as being exclusive of a plurality of elements. Likewise, the recitation of “or” should be interpreted as being inclusive, such that the recitation of “A or B” is not exclusive of “A and B,” unless it is clear from the context or the foregoing description that only one of A and B is intended. Further, the recitation of “at least one of A, B and C” should be interpreted as one or more of a group of elements consisting of A, B and C, and should not be interpreted as requiring at least one of each of the listed elements A, B and C, regardless of whether A, B and C are related as categories or otherwise. Moreover, the recitation of “A, B and/or C” or “at least one of A, B or C” should be interpreted as including any singular entity from the listed elements, e.g., A, any subset from the listed elements, e.g., A and B, or the entire list of elements A, B and C.

LIST OF REFERENCES

-   [1] TS 23.502 V15.0.0 -   [2] TS 23.682 V15.3.0 -   [3] TR23.724 V0.1.0

ABBREVIATIONS AND TERMINOLOGY

-   3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project -   5G-RAN 5G Radio Access Network -   5GS 5G System -   AF Application Function -   AMF Access and Mobility Management Function -   AS Access Stratum -   CIoT Cellular Internet of Things -   CN Core Network -   DL Down Link -   E-UTRA Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access -   EPC Evolved Packet Core -   EPS Evolved Packet System -   HLR Home Location Register -   HPCF Home PLMN Policy Control Function -   HSS Home Subscriber Server -   eMTC enhanced Machine Type Communication -   eNB enhanced NodeB -   gNB next Generation NodeB -   MME Mobility management Entity -   MTC Machine Type Communication -   NB-IoT Narrow Band Internet of Things -   NAS Non Access Stratum -   NF Network Function -   NEF Network Exposure Function -   NR New Radio -   SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node -   PCF Policy Control Function -   RAN Radio Access Network -   RAU Routing Area Update -   RNC Radio Network Controller -   RRC Radio Resource Control -   SCEF Service Capability Exposure -   SIB System Information Block -   SMF Session Management Function -   TAU Tracking Area Update -   VPCF Visiting PLMN Policy Control Function -   UDM Unified Data Management -   UDR Unified Data Repository -   UPF User Plane Function -   UE User Equipment -   UL Up Link 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A user equipment (UE) comprising: a transceiver configured to receive, from a network, a paging message including an indication for delayed paging, wherein the indication for delayed paging indicates that the UE is allowed to delay a response to the paging message; and a processor configured to: identify whether or not the indication for delayed paging is included in the paging message, and initiate a procedure for the delayed paging when the indication for delayed paging is included in the paging message.
 2. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the procedure includes: checking whether a received signal level is greater than or equal to a threshold.
 3. The UE according to claim 2, wherein the processor is configured, when the received signal level is greater than or equal to the threshold, to respond to the paging request in a normal way.
 4. The UE according to claim 2, wherein the processor is configured, when the received signal level is below the threshold, to not respond to the paging request.
 5. The UE according to the claim 4, wherein the processor is configured to monitor the received radio signal level, and when the received radio signal level becomes greater than or equal to the threshold, to respond to the paging message from the network.
 6. The UE according to the claim 4, wherein the processor is configured to monitor the received radio signal level, and when the received radio signal level stays below the threshold, to not respond to the paging message.
 7. A method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving, from a network, a paging message including an indication for delayed paging, wherein the indication for delayed paging indicates that the UE is allowed to delay a response to the paging message; and identifying whether or not the indication for delayed paging is included in the paging message, and initiating a procedure for the delayed paging when the indication for delayed paging is included in the paging message.
 8. A core network node for mobility management, comprising: a transceiver; and at least one processor configured to control the transceiver to: transmit, to a user equipment (UE), a paging message including an indication for delayed paging, wherein the indication for delayed paging indicates that the UE is allowed to delay a response to the paging message, wherein a procedure for the delayed paging is initiated by the UE in a case where the core network node for mobility management includes the indication for delayed paging in the paging message.
 9. A method performed by a core network node for mobility management, the method comprising: transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), a paging message including an indication for delayed paging, wherein the indication for delayed paging indicates that the UE is allowed to delay a response to the paging message, wherein a procedure for the delayed paging is initiated by the UE in a case where the core network node for mobility management includes the indication for delayed paging in the paging message. 